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Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Chakka varatti/Jackfruit preserve

"Chakka" in Malayalam means Jackfruit and "varatti" means to cook by continuously stirring until the water in it goes.Chakka varatti is a traditional recipe in kerala. As jackfruit is a seasonal fruit and it grows in abundance in kerala people store them for future use by preparing this varatti. It has a long shelf life if prepared properly. This is prepared in a heavy bottomed vessel known as Uruli and it requires lot of muscles to stir...;)...
No No...I dint make it...Infact I got it without any pain...Mom made it for me and had packed it too...My hubby and airport employees helped me to get it to US..I enjoyed eating spoon full of these(still continuing) and made some recipes with it...
So here is the recipe from Amma...

Method of Preparation:
1. Clean and deseed the jackfruit(Varikkyachakka),Cut to pieces and pressure cook it for 2 whistle.(Add 1/2 cup water if u feel that the fruit has less water,like it has thin flesh).Open once pressure goes.
2. If water is there then dry it by heating with the cooker lid open.
3. Once cooled grind it to smooth paste in mixer.
4. Heat jaggery along with 1/2 cup water to form syrup.Strain the syrup for impurities and keep aside.
5. Now heat a thick bottemed vessel(usually uruli, but anything wud do) and add 2 tbsp ghee, add the jackfruit paste to it along with the jaggery syrup and cook on medium heat , stirring continuously.Keep on adding ghee in between see that varatti doesn't stick to the bottom of vessel.
6. Once it forms thick try aplying thin layer of the varatti at the bottom of uruli with laddle.Continue this along with stirring.See that the varatti doesn't stick at the bottom.Once it starts to come from the edges stop cooking.
7. Cool and preserve in bharani/glass jar.

Notes:
1. If you feel that you need more sweetness after completing the cooking, just add the jaggery syrup/cubes along with ghee(Step 5 & 6).
2. Whole cooking process to make chakka varatti can be done in 2 or 3 days.
3. 500 gms of ghee is completely needed for above process.Add more if needed.
4. Thick bottomed vessel should be used to make it.
5. The end product will be thick and in rollable form.